A promising start in the 2024 State American Legion Division I Tournament for Eden Prairie faded with unexpected losses in the next two rounds last week.
With the split, coach Mike O’Brien’s Eagles finished the season 30-8 overall. Earlier this year, Eden Prairie was the No. 1-ranked team in Scheels’ Statewide Legion poll, and it looked promising when the Eagles outlasted Excelsior in the Sub-State 4 Tournament to earn a state berth, but it wasn’t to be.
EP opened state play with a 6-0 win over Duluth Aug. 1 in Maple Grove. Hawken Hedlund sparked the Eagle offense, going three-for-four with a pair of doubles and a 350-foot home run.
Starting pitcher Nick Macheledt allowed only two hits in 5 1/3 innings and reliever Vinny Dykstra didn’t allow a hit in 1 1/3 innings. The Eagles played superb defense. Haddon Anderson and Joey Goetze each had two hits in the contest. Nick Thompson, Zach Peta, Connor Meadows and Ryan Holtz each had one hit.
Later on Aug. 1, the Eagles made it two in a row with a 7-1 victory over the host team from Maple Grove. Once again the Eagles had superb pitching with Nick Carlson on the mound for the first six innings and Holtz pitching a scoreless seventh. Carlson allowed four hits and struck out four.
Batting ninth in the order, Josh Kelly led Eden Prairie with a two-for-two game. Other EP hits were by Thompson, Hedlund, Peta, Goetze, Connor Meadows, Zander Hemmesch and Haddon Anderson. Hedlund’s hit was a triple - his fourth extra-base hit in two games.
Friday was a shocking experience for the Eagles when they lost to the Burnsville Cobras 11-1 in five innings.
Coach O’Brien rested most of his starters, giving reserves a chance for State Tournament playing time. Dykstra and Myken Anderson had the only two EP hits while Burnsville pounded out 11 hits for their 11 runs.
Pitching in the game for EP were Connor Meadows, Haddon Anderson and Myken Anderson. The Eagles made three fielding errors that led to four runs.
With a 2-1 record in pool play, Eden Prairie moved into the championship round on Aug. 3, but ran into trouble against the eventual Division I state champion, Farmington.
For the second game in a row, the Eagles managed only two base hits - one each by Hedlund and Dawson Miller. Thompson and Haddon Anderson both drew walks, but base runners were few and far between for O’Brien’s club. Meanwhile, Farmington was on fire at the plate with 14 hits. EP starter Parker Johnson lasted three innings before Aiden Keranen took over. They combined to strike out five hitters, but for the most part Farmington made a lot of solid contact. Six of Farmington’s 14 runs were marked unearned.
Trevor Rasmusson, the eventual MVP of the State Legion Tournament, had a career game, going five-for-five. Teammate Josh Berreth went three-for-five with a pair of RBIs.
While the state showing was not what the Eagles expected, the two losses don’t define what was otherwise a championship season. The Eagles had 15 seniors on their roster this year. Carlson, Myken Anderson and Brady Anderson, the team’s three sophomores, will form the nucleus for the 2025 squad. Help is on the way from a competitive Junior Legion team.
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